Abbeville man asks girlfriend to marry him in unique way

A little over a year ago, Chad McCloskey had an idea. Not long after that, he got in touch with the Abbeville Meridional and put everything into place.
On Sunday, August 25, 2013 Hope Lacombe, his girlfriend, opened up the Lifestyles section of the Meridional and began reading. She got to the bottom of Page 1B and nearly spilled her coffee. There at the bottom was a proposal of marriage from Chad. One week later, on Sept. 1, the bottom of Page 1B ran a similar box, but this one simply read “She said yes!”
McCloskey, an Abbeville native, first met Lacombe through social media.
“We kind of met on Facebook and it went from there,” McCloskey explained.
“We both commented on a mutual friend’s status and sent each other a friend request,” Lacombe added. “We exchanged phone numbers the next day.”
Lacombe is from Alexandria and had only recently moved to Abbeville to live with McCloskey, who wanted to propose in a unique way.
“I’d never seen anybody do it,” he explained.
“Looking back on it, I should’ve seen it coming,” Lacombe added. “He had made me some coffee and set the newspaper down on the table. I didn’t expect it, though.”
“She was in total shock,” Lacombe said.
The couple is planning to get married in Abbeville in Magdalen Square.
It started out as a small wedding, and one they wanted to have on a beach somewhere. However, not everyone would be able to make that trip, so the plans changed for Abbeville. The guest list has grown, and the future bride and groom are having to put the finishing touches on their plans.
“We’ve got a few little secrets left,” Lacombe said.
The wedding is Aug. 30 in Magdalen Square in Abbeville.